Re: Official XerJoff Appreciation Thread

Reading all the reviews of Modoc, it gives me the impression that this is one of those scents that smell very different on any person. Santal? Animalic Notes? Amber? Don`t get any of this on me. I also don`t see it as a chypre fragrance, since there is nothing here that on me gives the bitterness or the mossy tone. For me, it`s a very well done Vetiver and Iris scent. The combination is quite unusual, correct me if i`m wrong but i don`t remember any vetiver and iris fragrance. It`s interesting how the perfumer created a leathery vibe reforcing the rubberish aroma of vetiver. And it also impresses me how the three elements get along so well, it`s almost like they were friends of a long time. The rubber facets of vetiver goes and then i notice the woodier and leafy sides, wrapped in a creamy, powdery, slightly sweet musk. The powder aspect is very subdued, and seems like a insertion point for the iris. I got sometime to detect the iris here, since it doesn`t smell powdery, metallic earthy. It`s more of a iris facet which is not easily explored, the anisic side found in L'Artisan Iris Pallida.
What this one doesn`t have on me is a dynamic evolution. It seems complex but linear. I wished that i could tie Oroville complex evolution and the sillage and longevity of this one.

Re: Official XerJoff Appreciation Thread

Today i`m restarting to test my xerjoff samples, and i decided to pick Nio today. Nio has what seems to be the main object of Xerjoff fragrances: quality. They describe it as a unique fragrance, but to me is more of a classical theme made with good materials. It really has that fresh, citrus, natural face of Annick Goutal fragrances, as Hillaire said above, but it seems to last longer than Annick Fragrances. The citrus opening is rich, slightly green and bittersweet, and last more than one hour on me. Then it fades to a spicy heart which seems to have something sightly citrusy too, ending in a classical woody base of salty patchouly and dry cedar. I have a deja-vu feeling with this one, seems very close to something that i tried before, and this is what i don`t like on it. I appreciate the quality of the citrus here, but i wouldn`t pay the price they charge on this one, considering that i wouldn`t have time to appreciate properly the bottle, which is responsible for part of the high price here.

Re: Official XerJoff Appreciation Thread

The fragrance of today, Dhofar, is the first Xerjoff that i really don`t like. Altough Nio, which i wore yesterday, was not my thing, i saw it a great, well balanced citrus fragrance, which puts the money on the effort of making the citrus last. Dhofar, however, is a complete disaster for me, and one that even the materials and care with quality cannot help. For me it seems like a forgotton 80s masculine formula of no particular interest. It`s a soapy carnation affair that the perfumer forgot to make it worth of something so pricey. The lavender that it contains only last a few minutes, when the fragrance goes straight to a carnation and soapy masculine floral fragrance. Feels a little bit crude, not so intense, altough it lasts properly. This one would be the one that i wouldn`t recommend to anyone. For something spicy, slightly soapy and interesting, i`d recommend oroville instead.

Re: Official XerJoff Appreciation Thread

I can see vaguely a connection with Jil Sander Scent 79 Man, but Dhofar would have to improve a lot to be close of Scent 79, and this is not a good thing, considering that Scent 79 is good, but not outstanding.

I don`t see any connection att all with Eau d`Hermes, at least with the vintage. I don`t know how is the modern one, but the vintage is one of the most complex and rich leather spicy fragrances that i have tried so far

Re: Official XerJoff Appreciation Thread

Trying today Kobe. I was going for Uden, but i was afraid of that one going too light and too citrus in a cold and rainy day which matches better with something stronger. Kobe is fantastic, the first masculine from the shooting stars that really seems different. And yes, this one is all about oud and citrus. An interesting marriage, and few will notice as an oud fragrance, cause this is not your tipical oud. I only know that i was detecting oud on this one due to an arabic oud fragrance that i friend send me a time ago. That oud had this same smell, of dry wood, something that reminds me the smell of a natural rope, with something slightly resinous on that. The citrus opening is different, has something of that bitter and sweet flowery contrast that few fragrances has. It reminds me of Elixir des Merveilles opening, but less sweet and more citrus and bitter. Then, the oud kicks in and this is all about the oud and the palisander wood, which brings a scent similar to wormwood to my nose, but without the green aspect that wormwood have. I can get a discreet sweetness coming from the background of the composition, but the star here is the oud and the citric notes. It has a great sillage, very different from the deception which was Dhofar to me. An unusual arabic-inspired fragrance, i applaud Xerjoff for taking this risk and producing it.

Re: Official XerJoff Appreciation Thread

Oesel is as disappointing as Dhofar to me. It really seems like a copy of fleur du male.
My impressions:

Oesel doesn`t make any sense at all inside of a coinosseur, luxury, expensive brand like Xerjoff. It`s just a commercial ideal done with superior ingredients which doesn`t add anything new to the original idea. It`s a copy of Fleur du Male, but with a less overwhelming floweriness. The orange flower and petitgrain are still strong, noticeable, but a subtler than Fleur. The amber is more discreet and the base seems to share the same discreet sweetness woody shape of Kobe, but more sweet and without incense. It`s a good fragrance, but it`s a copy of Fleur Du Male. I thought it would go in a different direction after the top notes, as most of xerjoffs do, but it doesn`t go. It`s disappointing due to the lack of originality in something so expensive. I wouldn`t pay so high on it.

Re: Official XerJoff Appreciation Thread

Today, i`m finishing the sampling of my masculine options of the Shooting Stars collection. And the last one is Uden.
For Uden, i saw that some reviews on net reference marine, calone, sharp, fresh rose notes. I don`t get any of these. Uden for me is neighbourhood between Gloria Cacharel and Allure Homme, so it seems very unissex. The opening seems like the citrus notes of Allure Homme, that tart-sweet lemon, just slightly better than allure homme. Then the lemon seems to be joined by a sweet, but not so gourmand, vanilla, and this vanilla is matched with a light boozy rum and a radiating amber. This one has that kind of generic beauty, that it`s still generic even if when done in a rich way. Not bad, but sincerely, it`s not the kind of thing that you would considering saving 300 dollars to buy a bottle.

Re: Official XerJoff Appreciation Thread

Considering the 7 scents, i get a mixed impression of the brand. I think that the best ones make Xerjoff worth of being tried, while the weakest ones let you wondering if you really need them. I see too Xerjoffs here, one that knows how to do a classic theme with superior ingredients and a top execution, and other which seems more like Creed, Bond No 9, which copies massmarket ideas without even trying to improve them. And this for me it`s shameless, specially if you are going to charge your costumer 300 dollars for a 50ml scent.
If I`d give notes and rank them, this 7 first would be like this:

Re: Official XerJoff Appreciation Thread

I think that a comparison between Uden and Tenere is quite misleading. I recently wore my Tenere mini, and this goes more on a Kouros direction, but without the musky animalic notes. It doesn`t match at any point with Uden. Tenere has a fougere-spicy structure, done in a way which got lost after the 80`s, where the carnation/clove accord plays a big play on the composition itself. Uden don`t get at any moment in this neighbourhood of Kouros/spicy fougere, I wouldn`t recommend it as something similar to Tenere...

Re: Official XerJoff Appreciation Thread

Today, I`m starting to sample what Xerjoff calls as the feminine fragrances of Shooting Stars collection. And the first one is Shingl.
Shingl, a nightmare? Not for me, for sure. It`s more of a dream i`d say. A cozy and warm dream of subtle sweetness and booziness over a classical spicy-iris heart. I don`t get any anise and bergamot at the opening, what i get seems to be like a good dose of a warm, dry carnation accord. Then the iris kicks in, in a dry and not flowery way, and their combination seems very guerlanish. As the scent dries on skin, you start to notice a creamy and sweet base of rum, vanilla and musk, which blends perfectly with the iris and carnation. I think this can be easily worn by men too. This one i enjoyed much more than Oesel and Uden.

Re: Official XerJoff Appreciation Thread

Testing Dhajala today:
The oriental basenotes of Dhajala seems to be what i detect most throught its evolution on my skin. They create for me a similar patchouli and amber combination which makes me think particularly of Prada Edp and Opium Pour Homme EDP. The difference is that what creates the patchouli-like aroma doesn't have the camphor facet and the amber seems not so loud, altough very noticeable, of a better quality here. I get a quick flowery citrus at the opening, which is almost a standard of this line, starting with something citrus. Then it goes to a spicy heart mixed with the galbanum, which is more green and grassy and lacks the bitter and difficult aspect of the note. Then, the base is all about resinous and woody notes. It's pretty good, but i already have and enjoy prada edp and opium homme edp, so i don't need this one.

Re: Official XerJoff Appreciation Thread

So far I'm also not impressed with Lua, Esquel & Irbitra - they smell an awful lot like some existing female-marketed fragrances. This really put a dampener on my desire to test Dhajala today so I'm glad to see Rick's comment on it. I do like Oesel (imo it wears much better than Fleur du Male) but I'd say Shingl is probably the most outstanding among the female-marketed Shooting Stars.

Re: Official XerJoff Appreciation Thread

I was curious to try Ibitira Diamond, Lua is my fragrance of tomorrow, but i already sensed that this has something like a common fragrance. In fact, Oesel seems better than Fleur. I cannot wear Fleur, the floweriness on that is overwhelming, it's quite sickening on me, although i appreciate that. The problem is that i think i'm not the target audience of xerjoff, the one that can pay 300 dollars easily on a fragrance. I'd need to save two months to that, and on my mind i think it has to be at least different, not unique, but of a great quality and not so similar to something commercial. That's why i cannot see myself buying a lot of xerjoffs. If they were cheaper, i'd have a lot of them, including oesel i think

Re: Official XerJoff Appreciation Thread

Today testing Lua. Found this to be the perfect pair to Dhofar, in terms of uninteresting formula and waist of materials:

A sweet floral fragrance that shares the flaws of the weakest Xerjoffs: good materials, no particular identity to justify the purchase. Lua starts fresh, slightly fruity and with something very discreet minty, and then it moves to a floral gourmand area. It`s all about rose and vanilla after the first minutes, with a spicy sweet touch of pink pepper. Lua starts uninteresting and ends uninteresting. I thought it`d be a heavy fragrance, but it`s not, it`s lighter than i expected. Lua is for me, like Dhofar, a waist of quality over a faceless formula.

Re: Official XerJoff Appreciation Thread

Esquel is sold as a feminine fragrance, an unusual modern fougere with a "vintage" aspect. I expected it to be an aromatic lavender, which is not. Doc Elly describe it very well, it`s a men`s shaving-like aroma, or to be very direct, it`s an upscale version of Le Male, with less powdery-musky aspects and a woody warm discreet base that Le Male has. Some Xerjoffs you can almost see the briefing for them, an Esquel is one: "Give us a interpretation of Le Male. Women like it, some wear them, so take of part of the shaving aspect and make it more feminine". And for more feminine, they just put more vanilla and tonka, creating a nutty-vanilla warm base, that blens perfectly with the lavender and the herbs.

Re: Official XerJoff Appreciation Thread

Today, i`m starting to explore the XJ 17 line. I have already tried irisss and richwood, that have been between my favorites of the line. But today i`m starting my offical exploration with elle.
My impression of Elle:
lle is an ellegant fruity floral fragrance, where the floral part has a comfort milky floral thing. The effect is quite similar to the nutella-like aroma of miroir des envies, altough the two fragrances have nothing in common. Elle starts with a fruity opening, which seems predominant on redcurrant and blackcurrant. Then the scent goes to the milky floral part, ending in a musky-resinous sheer base. Elle would fit perfetcly a rich woman that needs a discreet but elegant fragrance to the events she goes. She would probably be the one who would accept paying so high for ir.

Re: Official XerJoff Appreciation Thread

Today i decided to pick one Xerjoff that particularly impresses me - Xerjoff Irisss. I see the comparisons with other Irises scents, like ISM, Hiris, Bois d`Argent, Odori Iris, and i don`t agree that the Irisss is equal to them. Irisss is one of the most beautiful iris scents that i have ever tried. It starts with the carrot seed note which gives that raw, vegetal aroma, so similar to the opening of the Iris Silver Mist from Serge Lutens. But while Iris Silver Mist seems to me, like a lot of Serge Lutens fragrances, a saturation of iris trying to do a photographic approach of this note, Irisss seems more of an exercise of blending different iris facets in a smooth, silky interpretation, of a scent which lingers on your skin, but it`s more of a confident scent, more of an iris coinosseur experience. After the carroty aspects go, you get the soft powdery facet of iris, and, my favorite part, is when it goes to the base, which blends sweet, musky, creamy aspects. I never tried any other iris scent that goes to this kind of sweet which is not sweet, creamy and vanillic aroma. It fits like a glove the iris, not hiding the note, but adorning it in a respectable way.
I wish that xerjoff did more scents like Irisss and Kobe; they are a proof that the company has high quality beautiful scents to be offered.

Re: Official XerJoff Appreciation Thread

Another fragrance which i strongly disagree with the general opinions here is XXY. I think it`s misleading to compare it with amouage gold, cause they have anothing in common. Also, i don`t think that XXY base is worked the same way as the feminines of the shooting stars, and don`t see any similarties with straight to heaven too. XXY seems like a modern chypre to me, faceless as most of the modern chypres, but well done. My review for it is:

The name is odd, and if the name leaves you expecting something controversial, this is not the case. It seems that Xerjoff wanted to created an unissex hermaphrodite scent, but the result is more on what is offered to the femmes than to the hommes. XXY is an upscale version of the recent chypre genre. It takes an extra care with all the parts, the fruity, the floral, the patchouly and the musky one. The fruity is quick one me, and the sweet flower is what i get next and during a long time. The ylang-ylang here is less exotic than usual, lacking the rubber and camphor aspects that it can have some times. The patchouly is sweet, the musk is creamy and the base seems to last forever on skin. Even after a shower i could still get it. XXY has radiance, good balance, and a modern complexity.

Re: Official XerJoff Appreciation Thread

Sampling again xerjoff richwood. My second try showed me some details that i didn't paid attention for the first time - the rose and the lemon. I was also complimented with this one today My impression of it is:
This is one of the xerjoffs that have a rich aroma, which is totally adequate do the name and the price. Richwood is about not only sandalwood, as the description says, but it's also about patchouli too. The first aroma that you get is a woody and dry patchouly, in the same vein of Coromandel. But the difference is a citrus floral accent mixed with the patchouli. It's not dominant, but you can get a silky rose and a citrus accent softening and turn the patchouli a little bit more friendly. Different from Coromandel, Richwood goes to a cozy sandalwood base instead of a hard amber powdered base. This is a sandalwood of great quality, hard to see today, and it ties perfectly with the intense aroma that the patchouli starts this fragrance. This is one that shows the best that the brand can offer.

Re: Official XerJoff Appreciation Thread

Sampling my last fragrance of the XJ7 line. Today is Homme. I`d say that this is their best male option available, if you like leathery fragrances, of course. A theme that i think a traditional approach is always welcome is leather, since there are few classical leather fragrances now. Xerjoff Homme, in my opinion, executes perfectly the Cuir de Russie theme, and because of this it make draw some parallel with Cuir de Russie from Creed, Knize Ten and La Treizieme Heure by Cartier. I think that there must be others, but are this three that occur me right now. From all the three fragrances, Homme comes close of Creed Cuir de Russie; both have the polish oily aroma at the beginning that makes you think of greased boots (Homme to my mom reminded her, when i applied of furniture polish). Maybe the lavender gives an additional touch for this polish/grease aroma that it`s not so easy to like. But if you wait, both fragrances goes in a dry leather surrounded by citruses. Cuir de Russie keeps more the polish aroma and the citrus part, but it gets very soft after some moments on skin, while homme gives you a strong polish opening and then goes direct for the citrus and leather part, living the citrus quickly. When it gets to the leather part, Homme reminds me at some moments of Knize Ten, having the rubbery part but lacking the powdery amber facet, and La Treizieme Heure, with something slightly sweet and woody supporting the leather aroma, but lacking the exotic tea touch. I think the price makes this not so easy to purchase, but it`s one of the best leathers that i have tried, which is complex, classic, but has at the same time a contemporany approach. Altough the parallels can make you think that this is not unique, i would say that the same thing that happens on irisss happens here, it`s the details that make it interesting, the perfect tune of some parts that seems to slip fast in other compositions.

Re: Official XerJoff Appreciation Thread

Xerjoff seems to have dedicated more attention to their expensive XJ17 line than the Shooting Stars Collection. The XJ17 seems stronger, longlasting, without the fillers that Shooting Stars line has. I`d say that they should do it in 50ml sizes, they would be more 'affordable' and sell well. Cause, while i considering purchasing at least homme and irisss from this collection, i noticed that with the price of these frags i can buy at least 2 rare or exclusive guerlains or even 3 cartiers from the les heures line.
But, leaving this apart, my rank on this line would be:

Re: Official XerJoff Appreciation Thread

Fiero is a very traditional spicy fougere on my skin. What i like about it is that the fougere-like aroma is not created using neither lavender nor clove, but instead of that a combination of aromatic herbs, citrus fruits and other spices. The citrus opening is dry and goes straight to a fougere heart, dry, green and spicy. When it goes to the base the aroma transform itself into a woody incensed thing, which is quite intriguing since there is any incensed note. From the Xerjoffs, this is one that has a strong sillage and longevity on me.

Re: Official XerJoff Appreciation Thread

I finally wrote a review about Verona 010, which I bought last year. The review is in german, so I hope that you can understand it: http://bit.ly/fWMJut

XerJoff is one of my favourite fragrance houses, I really appreciate the beautiful flacons and the magnificent scents. XerJoff did not reinvent perfumery, but they brought it to perfection. Unfortunately, they are not very popular in germany. I introduced XerJoff to the members of a big perfume community, but they were not interested in these beautiful fragrances

Re: Official XerJoff Appreciation Thread

4 samples arrived yesterday. Richwood pleasant enough but I found it too sweet for my liking. It lasts a very long time, so for those who do like this one, you're certainly getting your money's worth. Damarose I let my other half and mother try this, they both liked it. Regio is a new addition to the Casamorati line and I really like this. It starts off citrusy but then on my skin it develops into an aromatic citrus. It's way different to Fiero which is more spicy on me, but I haven't a clue what is in Regio. It seems to have a Frankincense note but whatever the composition is, I like it a lot. The last one was their new 1861 to celebrate a 150 year anniversary. This is very unisex and by far my favourite of the 4 samples. My favourite Xerjoff to date is still Nio, but this comes in a very close second. I've not seen the notes listed yet, but it is lovely. The citrus hangs around for ages and this transports you to Italy if you have ever been. Xerjoff have captured the scent of Italy and bottled it - amazing

Re: Official XerJoff Appreciation Thread

I recently knew of Xerjoff (pronouced cserjoff) ina small shop in Verona, Italy. I only smelled and bought a fragrance, Ibitira, part of the Shooting Stars Collection. The owner of the shop knows very very well Xerjoff as he worked with them at the creation of a new (and very expensive) fragrance. So he told me how they make fragrances, very handcrafted, using only precious materials, and doing perfumes "in a old way". It's true, they are expensive (i.e. Ibitira costed 250 euro fr a 50ml bottle), but they all are limited series, really amazing fragrances, wonderful packaging and bottles with heavy solid brass cap. Maybe they costs a little bit, but I'm really happy to own one of these, for me they worth their price.

IBITIRA Woody powdery flowers
(sold as feminine fragrance, but both Luigi-owner of the shop- and my boyfriend use it and I find it perfect on men too)